Congress to pay pharma $6B for antibiotics—with no price caps
S. 4875 — PASTEUR Act of 2026 · Filed by Michael Bennet (D-CO) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 23, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a federal contract program to pay pharmaceutical companies $75–$300 million per year for developing new antibiotics that treat drug-resistant infections. Companies apply after FDA approval, and the government pays them annually for up to 10 years, with payments reduced by any sales revenue they earn. The bill also funds hospital stewardship programs and surveillance of antibiotic resistance.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a direct annual payment to drug makers ($75–$300M/year) conditioned on FDA approval and unmet-need criteria. The public-health purpose (combating antibiotic resistance) is real, but the primary financial beneficiary is the pharmaceutical industry, not patients or the public directly.
What the text implies
- Annual payments are reduced only by actual US sales revenue, not by R&D costs or manufacturing expenses—companies can receive full subsidies even if they earn substantial profit margins on the same drug.
- The bill does not require participating companies to cap prices, limit profits, or guarantee affordability; a company could receive $300M annually while charging patients prohibitive out-of-pocket costs.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
pharmaceutical companies developing antimicrobial drugs; large-cap pharma (Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Gilead Sciences); smaller biotech firms with antimicrobial pipelines